Kansas State turns down bowl invite; Rice set to replace KSU in bowl pool based on APR

Kansas State notified the Big 12 Conference Sunday morning the schools has decided not accept a bowl bid, which will allow Rice to take the final bowl spot, sources told On3.

The school could be subject to fines from the conference, a source said.

The Wildcats (6-6) made their final decision Sunday morning, literally hours before bowls began extending bowl invitations. KSU began considering opting out of playing in a bowl earlier this week following the retirement of coach Chris Klieman. The players’ leadership council discussed the matter with athletic director Gene Taylor, but never took a vote, Taylor told reporters.

The school ultimately came to the decision not to play in a bowl because of the “coaching transition and several uncertainties, including roster availability,” a source said.

On Friday, Kansas State officially introduced Texas A&M offensive coordinator Collin Klein as the Wildcats’ new coach. Klein will remain at Texas A&M through the College Football Playoffs.

Rice (5-7) benefits from Kansas State’s decision by earning its first bowl bid under new coach Scott Abell and only its third in the last 11 seasons. The Owls received the bid by having the best multi-year APR of 5-7 teams from 2020-24, an NCAA source told On3. The multi-year APR data is not publicly available. If Rice wasn’t available, the next 5-7 schools to be considered were Auburn, UCF, Mississippi State and Florida State, an NCAA source told On3.

Since Kansas State made its intention not to accept a bowl bid before invitations were extended, the NCAA fills the vacancy with a 5-7 team based on APR rankings. However, if Kansas State had accepted a bid Sunday and then later opted not to play in the bowl, the Big 12 would have been allowed to replace KSU with a Big 12 team that finished 5-7.

Big 12 members Baylor, Kansas and UCF all finished 5-7. 

Several teams have opted not to play in a bowl after accepting a bid because of COVID or mass player defections, but Kansas State is the first college football bowl-eligible team in modern history to turn down a bid before it was extended.

With 82 teams needed to fill 41 bowls, there were exactly 82 teams this season that won at least six games to get bowl eligible.

Last year, Marshall pulled out of the Independence Bowl a week after accepting its bowl bid. The Thundering Herd withdrew from the bowl because they claimed they didn’t have enough players after several players went into the Transfer Portal following coach Charles Huff’s departure to Southern Miss.

With Kansas State opting out, the Big 12 has six bowl eligible teams to fill Big 12 bowl tie-ins. This does not include Big 12 members Utah, Arizona and Arizona State, which were all bowl eligible, but classified as legacy Pac-12 members to fill the Pac-12’s bowl lineup.